Class Action Lawsuits
Defective Roofing Products
Many roofing contractors are currently selling products
without informing buyers
of the recent (and current) CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS
for premature roof failures.
There can be very significant consequences to installing
defective roofing products
Including premature failures, denied insurance claims
and problems when homes are sold.
Manufacturers and Roofing Contractors are Currently
Selling Products that are Known to be Defective
This website contains a lot of valuable information on
roofing
Much of the information is common knowledge within the
roofing industry - But is normally not disclosed to
buyers.
Within this website you can find important facts about
roofing products, warranties and class action lawsuits.
However, the website cannot contain enough information
to make you a roofing expert
And acting without all relevant, up-to-date, information
can be dangerous.
Protect yourself - Be sure to contact Seattle Roof
Brokers
Before buying ANY roofing product
Better Safe Than Sorry
In the Seattle area, many local contractors are still
selling roofing products that recently were (or
currently are) involved
in class action lawsuits - without disclosing this
information to consumers. Protect yourself against
premature failures,
denied insurance claims for damage caused by defective
roofing and additional expenses when the home is sold...
Contact Seattle Roof Brokers
to learn what roofers and manufacturers DON'T WANT you
to know.
To date, class action lawsuits within the roofing
industry have been for premature failure of either
asphalt shingles
or synthetic composites - which are typically called
"rubber roofing". We will first address the class
action lawsuits
against asphalt shingles and then the rubber roofing
class action suits. If you are primarily
interested in information
on defective rubber roofing, please scroll down through
the page.
Asphalt Shingle Class Action Lawsuits
To fully appreciate the recent (and future) series of
asphalt shingle class action lawsuits, it's important
to understand
why these lawsuits have been a fairly recent phenomenon.
Asphalt shingles have been used as a roofing product for
over 100 years without significant problems with premature
failures. However, the design of asphalt shingles
changed,
in the late 1970's and early 1980's, and immediately
premature failures were reported across the country.
While many
"old timers" remember the proven performance of
traditional shingles when they think of asphalt, that
product design
is no longer available. Make no mistake, the
products on the market today are NOT like your fathers'
asphalt shingles.
In past years, warranties weren't much of a concern
because organic felt shingles
usually lasted longer
than the 15 years or 20 years for which they were
guaranteed.
Some organic shingles on
roofs today have seen 30 years and are still hanging on.
(1)
With the 1974 oil embargo, and economic recessions
during the 1980's, asphalt manufacturers focused
primarily on
lowering production costs. The result of
manufacturers' efforts to lower material costs was the
production of shingles
(both organic and fiberglass) of a much lower quality.
Asphalt shingle class action lawsuits are a direct
result of the
manufacturer's decision to change the design of a proven
product - in order to produce cheaper shingles.
The pressures placed on large, public companies to
maintain profitability
brought forward good old
American ingenuity, reduce fiberglass mats (fibers were
expensive)
and increase filler
content (asphalt was also expensive)... Filler was not
used to stabilize asphalt
so much as it appeared it
was used to attempt to control profitability and/or
market share. (2)
The immediate result of producing cheaper asphalt
shingles was a decreased lifespan for the products.
A few years
after the design change, complaints of premature asphalt
shingle failures were being reported from across the
country.
Roofing contractors began reporting, to their trade
associations, asphalt shingle failures within 10 years
of installation.
Fiberglass shingles are much thinner, and are not
saturated with asphalt...
several roofing
contractor associations have heard complaints from their
members
that fiberglass
shingles are failing within ten years...
(3)
Recently, our company had a roof fail in less than
eight years.
When removing shingles in
leaky areas, it became apparent that the water
was going right through
the shingles, and had been for some time.
(4)
In Central California, we have seen shingles split on
roofs in less than five years...
These shingles also seem
to have a very high filler content of 70% and limited
shingle strength. (5)
Roofing contractor association notified asphalt
manufacturers about the widespread reports of defective
shingles and
they advised their member contractors to begin using a
standardized "Disclaimer Form" in order to avoid
liability for
selling and installing shingles they knew (or suspected)
were defective. For more information:
The History of Asphalt.
While asphalt roofing contractors were initially
concerned about the premature failure of the new design
of shingles,
within a short period of time - after they avoided
liability with a "disclaimer" for materials - they began
to appreciate
the advantages of selling cheaper products (with
inflated warranties).
WSRCA has distributed a standard disclaimer to
their members
to be given to customers
along with a copy of the manufacturer's warranty
The disclaimer states
that the contractor guarantees his workmanship, not the
shingles.
The shingles are covered
only by the manufacturer's warranty. (6)
It's interesting to note that, after notification of
widespread failure of defective shingles, asphalt
manufacturers did NOT
conduct a product recall of the shingles known to be
defective, nor did they initiate a campaign to inform
buyers of the
risk of installing products that were known to fail
prematurely. Instead, asphalt manufacturers
modified their warranties
to eliminate coverage for the "service life" of
shingles and (while this is hard to believe) they
Increased Warranties
from the traditional 15 years and 20 years - to the much
more marketable 30 year, 40 year and 50 year periods.
Technical people throughout the industry, however,
generally agree that warranties
are little more than a
marketing device, and can't be considered an
accurate predictor
of shingle life.
(7)
Some roofing experts, including Seattle Roof Brokers,
believe that inherent in the asphalt manufacturer's
decision to
produce cheaper shingles was the idea that it would
result in a Planned Obsolescence which would
benefit both the
producer and installer (roofer) - at the expense of
consumers. For more information see:
Asphalt Shingle Warranties.
Most homeowners are lulled into thinking that if a
30-year roof shingle is installed on their home
(as stated by the roof
manufacturer), then that roof will last the suggested
life expectancy.
Not so! Most
roofs fail in 10 to 15 years. Very few
roofs last past 15 years. (8)
We have found that most asphalt shingle re-roofing in
the Seattle area
is replacement of
fiberglass shingles that are only 10 years to 15 years
old.
Very few fiberglass
shingles last past 15 years. And those
reaching that age
tend to look pretty nasty
and (aesthetically) appear to be past due for
replacement. (9)
Recently several CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS against
some of the largest manufacturers of asphalt shingles
have
resulted in settlements for buyers of "defective"
shingles. These CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS continue
today, alleging
asphalt manufacturers are "knowingly and intentionally
concealing the fact that products were and are
defective" and
they have "failed and continue to fail to correct these
defects." All of this supports the idea of planned
obsolescence.
Asphalt manufacturers (and roofers) know that 30 year,
40 year and 50 year warranties sell shingles. Yet
they expect
very few claims for premature failures - because most
people move every 5 to 7 years - therefore, it's very
profitable
to misrepresent shingle quality and durability in order
to re-roof twice as often. Do not expect roofers
to disclose any
information which hinders their ability to "sell"
asphalt. For full disclosure of information
Contact Seattle Roof Brokers.
Unfortunately, until recently, manufacturers have had
very little liability to individual homeowners for
defective products
because potential legal fees for buyers to compel
manufacturers to replace shingles far exceeds the cost
of re-roofing.
Until recently manufacturers have avoided liability
because it's simply too costly for homeowners to conduct
a lawsuit
against huge corporations with enormous resources...
it's just cheaper to re-roof.
However, recently there have been some (limited)
accountability for selling defective shingles:
(1) In 1999 GAF Corporation settled a class
action lawsuit for shingles manufactured between 1987
and 1997.
The shingles involved in
this case include, but are not limited to:
Timberline, Timberline Ultra, Slateline, Sentinel,
Nor'easter, Royal
Sovereign, Dubl-Coverage, Tite-On, Woodline, Marquis and
Grand Sequoia.
(2) Bird Incorporated settled a class
action suit in 2001 for shingles manufactured between
1985 and 1993.
The shingles involved in
this case include, but are not limited to:
Architect 80, Architect Limited Edition, Fireline,
Jet 80, Mark 80, PRC Seal
King, Wind Seal 80, Woodline and Woodscape.
(3) PABCO settled a class action lawsuit in
2006 for the HO-25 and HZ-25 shingles.
(4) As of July 2008, CertainTeed Corporation
had over 20 class action lawsuits for shingles
manufactured
between 1987 and 2008.
The shingles named in these lawsuits include, but are
not limited to: Centennial Slate,
Grand Manor Shangle,
Carriage House Shangle, Presidential TL Ultimate,
Presidential Shake, Landmark Series,
Landmark TL Ultimate,
Landmark Premium, Landmark Special, Independence Shangle,
Woodscape Series,
Hatteras, Hallmark
Shangle, Classic Horizon, New Horizon, Patriot, XT-30,
XT-25, Jet-25 and CT-25.
In our opinion, the trend toward class action lawsuits
is just starting and will have significant impact on
manufacturers
and consumers for years to come. With no shortage
of premature shingle failures, we believe class action
lawsuits will
be a "goldmine" for lawyers representing homeowners and
a "black hole" for manufacturers using inflated
warranties.
In fact, BEFORE the CertainTeed class action lawsuit is
settled, the same lawyers bringing that lawsuit have
already
filed class action lawsuits against another asphalt
manufacturer - IKO Manufacturing - in Michigan,
New Jersey,
New York and Washington State... it's open season on
asphalt manufacturers - and it's about time.
While we expect to see asphalt class action lawsuits
continue - even escalate - unfortunately, we also believe
that,
ultimately, the big losers will be consumers of asphalt
shingles and, in the end, only trial lawyers will profit
because:
(A) The typical settlements only pay a small
fraction (approximately 10% to 30%) of the actual costs
to replace the defective
roofing. Many homeowners will see unreimbursed costs
of thousands -
even tens of thousands of
dollars - to replace defective roofing.
(B) Manufacturers will simply pass-on
the cost of settlements to consumers in increased product
pricing.
Consumers will be forced
to pay more for asphalt shingles to off-set legal
expenses and settlement costs.
resulting from the
continued production of shingles which are known to be
defective. And it is
possible,
even probable, the future (more expensive) asphalt shingles will
still fail prematurely.
(C) People selling homes (with asphalt shingles)
will soon see increased liability and expenses.
As the general public
becomes more aware of the ongoing class action lawsuits
for defective shingles,
home buyers will be
negotiating huge discounts (or roof replacements) from
those selling homes with
shingles known to be
defective. Would you pay full price to buy a
home with defective roofing?
(D) Insurance companies may not cover damages to
the home that are related to "defective roofing".
Most, if not all, roofing
warranties exclude coverage for damage to the home.
Homeowners may find
neither the shingle
manufacturer or property insurance will cover damage
caused by defective roofing.
It should be noted that, in the Seattle area, many local
roofers are STILL SELLING products that were (or
currently are)
involved in class action lawsuits without disclosing
this information to consumers.
Contact Seattle Roof Brokers
Synthetic Composite (Rubber) Roofing Class Action
Lawsuits
Information to be posted soon
